From the scientific point of view, the idea of treating medical symptoms by smoking marijuana is, in a word, interesting.

That's both good and bad.

"Cannabis is just a very - a very interesting plant. It's got all sort of compounds in it, and we frankly don't know a lot about it," said Dr. Alan Green, professor of pharmacology and toxicology, and chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College.

Any effects of cannabis are the result of compounds called cannabinoids, of which the best-known is THC, the compound that correlates with getting high. These are taken up by two sets of molecular receptors CB1, which is mostly in the brain, and CB2, which is mostly in other parts of the body and alter the way the body handles electric and chemical signals that we feel as pain, nausea and other symptoms.

[continues 721 words]

The Implications: Measure backed by Gov. Hassan will give patients access, but it will come with tight regulations

After almost five years of gubernatorial vetoes blocking medical marijuana legislation, New Hampshire is set to become the 19th state in the country, and the last in New England, to allow seriously ill people to use marijuana for medical purposes.

The state Legislature passed a bill sanctioning medical marijuana on June 26 , and the bill now awaits final approval of Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan.

[continues 1459 words]

Ted Wright's wife was wasting away before his eyes.

Ravaged by constant nausea and vomiting - the side effects from a clinical trial drug that was keeping her cancer at bay - Cindy Wright had rapidly lost more than 30 pounds.

"She couldn't eat," her husband recalled. "And they said, 'You've got to stop losing weight; we're taking you off the trial.'"

A nurse at their Boston hospital had told them other patients were getting through their treatments by using cannabis - marijuana. Desperate, the Wrights decided to try it.

[continues 993 words]

Legislators have been talking about legalizing marijuana for medical purposes for some years now, and they've finally passed a bill permitting it. New Hampshire is the 19th state to do so and will hopefully benefit from the experiences of other jurisdictions that have led the way, but there are still some issues and uncertainties with how exactly the system will work.

The compromise the House and Senate reached eliminates the possibility of patients growing marijuana themselves, and instead will funnel all distribution through so-called "alternative treatment centers." And those centers won't be permitted in residences or near our schools: Hopefully, this measure - along with the provision that center locations remain confidential - will cut down on burglaries from what are to be secure and alarmed sites.

[continues 407 words]

Rep. Donna Schlachman, D-Exeter, was a prime sponsor of the House version of the medical marijuana bill; the final version passed last month. She answered these questions from the New Hampshire Union Leader:

Are you satisfied with the legislation as adopted?

There are some disappointments, but it is a step forward. There is a concern that there is no provision for patients who have applied for an identification card and don't have it yet but have accessed marijuana. It's sort of saying, 'We're doing it for you, but we're not going to worry about protecting you until the dispensaries are open.'

[continues 1580 words]

Dr. P. Thomas Harker, a Concord physician, is president of the New Hampshire Medical Society and holds both a medical degree and a master's degree in public health.

He responded to these questions from the New Hampshire Union Leader about the state's newly enacted medical marijuana legislation.

How was the medical society involved in the drafting of the law?

We wanted to have a very limited and narrow scope for this legislation because we believe that therapeutic cannabis is an unproven therapy. Studies have not been done to confirm that this would be a useful intervention or to say it would not be a useful intervention. We thought for some people with life-threatening illnesses that were not responding to treatment that this might be something worth considering. We're very concerned about the risk of diversion and the message we send to the children and adolescents of New Hampshire about cannabis. We wanted to make sure we did not send a message that it is a safe product to be used in a recreational way.

[continues 816 words]

As the state Legislature gets set to vote on medical marijuana today, local police chiefs say it's too soon to identify the enforcement challenges they may face.

Lawmakers will vote today on whether to make New Hampshire the 19th state in the nation to legalize medical marijuana. If passed, House Bill 573 would make it legal for people with serious health conditions to possess up to 2 ounces of marijuana if approved by their doctor. Medical marijuana could be obtained at one of four proposed dispensaries throughout the state, but it would remain illegal to obtain elsewhere.

[continues 476 words]

CONCORD - With little discussion, the Senate and House voted overwhelmingly to allow chronically and terminally ill patients to use marijuana if other drugs prove ineffective.

Gov. Maggie Hassan has said she will sign the bill. When she does, New Hampshire will become the final New England state to establish a medical marijuana program and the 19th state along with Washington, D.C., with similar programs.

House Bill 573 establishes a medical marijuana program for New Hampshire patients who are both chronically ill and exhibit certain symptoms, and who have had the same physician for more than three months.

[continues 247 words]

The N.H. Legislature overwhelmingly passed legislation Wednesday legalizing medical marijuana. But the vote did not fall entirely along party lines among Monadnock Region lawmakers.

House Bill 573 sailed through the N.H. House, 284-66. The Senate also passed the bill on a voice vote.

In the region, it passed by a 27-3 vote in the House.

State Rep. William Butynski, D-Hinsdale, who voted against the bill in March, switched his vote on Wednesday.

"The Senate changed the bill to incorporate changes recommended by the governor," he said. "And so, I'm not sure I felt good, but I felt OK voting for it."

[continues 965 words]

As Americans obsess over NSA spying, abuse by the IRS and other assaults on our freedom, I can't get my mind off the thousand other ways politicians abuse us.

In their arrogance, they assume that only they solve social problems. They will solve them by banning this and that, subsidizing groups they deem worthy and setting up massive bureaucracies with a mandate to cure, treat and rescue wayward souls.

Their programs fail, and so they pass new laws to address the failures. It's one reason that 22 million people now work for government.

[continues 544 words]

Although the legal use of medical marijuana in New Hampshire seems to be all but certain, one important part of modern medicine remains far outside the picture: health insurance.

No insurance coverage for what is legally called "therapeutic cannabis" is required under the proposed law, nor is coverage likely to exist anytime soon.

That means that after the state's four medical marijuana dispensaries are up and running - which won't happen for at least a year - patients will have to pay the whole cost, often estimated at several hundred dollars a month.

[continues 633 words]

CONCORD - New Hampshire House and Senate negotiators reached agreement Tuesday on legislation legalizing the use of marijuana for seriously ill patients.

The bill, pending final approval of the committee of conference agreement by the full House and Senate next week, will be on its way to Gov. Maggie Hassan's desk, where, she said, she will sign it into law.

At the insistence of the governor and the law enforcement community, a "home-grow" option was removed by the Senate from the bill originally passed by the House.

[continues 1080 words]

CONCORD - The New Hampshire Legislature will vote next week on a bill to legalize medical use of marijuana for seriously ill patients after a speedy compromise emerged Tuesday that Gov. Maggie Hassan has indicated she will sign into law.

The agreement occurred after House negotiators gave up on trying to allow patients and caregivers to grow marijuana at home.

In return, Senate negotiators agreed to increase from three to four the number of state-licensed dispensaries that would sell it.

State Rep. Jim MacKay, D- Concord, said supporters of this issue need to be pragmatic enough to accept this compromise, given that the state has a governor willing to sign something.

[continues 578 words]

Hardy Macia speaks in a whisper, gentle like the hills and lake outside the hospital window, yet cruel in the illness it represents.

He sits cross-legged in bed, his mouth and nose covered by an oxygen mask, signing paperwork handed to him by a friend, who's also an attorney. His family is everywhere: in Macia's room, where bags of liquid and twisting tubes hang beside his bed, and down the hall in the waiting area, near that window framing Vermont's serenity.

[continues 974 words]

CONCORD - Supporters far outnumbered opponents of legislation that would legalize "therapeutic cannabis," the term for medical marijuana, at a state Senate committee hearing Thursday.

The Attorney General's Office dropped the opposition it had previously voiced to the bill.

Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Woodcock told the Senate Health, Education and Human Services Committee the office is ready to work with lawmakers and the medical community to craft a final bill with tight controls.

The New Hampshire Medical Society did not oppose the bill outright, but suggested a five-year study, prompting state Sen. John Reagan, R-Deerfield, a chief supporter of the bill, to accuse the society following the hearing of "doing anything to try to delay it."

[continues 783 words]

Before allowing patients to use medical marijuana, the state should seek a waiver from the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, opponents told a state Senate committee yesterday.

With both legislative and gubernatorial support for authorizing therapeutic use of marijuana, the law enforcement and medical communities also proposed a tightly controlled, mandatory study of patients and a board of physicians to review every doctor recommendation of the drug before a patient could start using it.

As approved by the House with more than 4-1 support last month, the proposed law would allow patients with specific diseases and specific symptoms to grow a limited amount of marijuana themselves or purchase it from a licensed dispensary.

[continues 535 words]

CONCORD (AP) - The New Hampshire House passed a bill yesterday decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana for the fourth time in five years.

But it's still unlikely the state will join its neighbors in Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut in decriminalizing marijuana, as Gov. Maggie Hassan has said she's not in favor of decriminalization and the Senate has shot down each of the recent attempts by the House to pass such a law.

Bill supporters argued it's time to end the prohibition of marijuana, which they said doesn't have public support and is a financial and regulatory burden on the state. In addition, they said legal substances like alcohol and tobacco have worse health and societal impacts.

[continues 180 words]

CONCORD (AP) - New Hampshire advocates of medical marijuana won overwhelming support yesterday in the House for a bill that would sanction five marijuana dispensaries and allow patients or caregivers to grow up to three plants for medical use.

The bipartisan vote of 286-64 marked the fourth time in six years such a medical marijuana bill has won House approval. Two previous measures were vetoed by then-Gov. John Lynch; a third was killed in the Senate.

"The intent of this legislation is to assist a very small minority of New Hampshire citizens who are suffering terribly from cancer, other terminal illnesses and debilitating diseases," Rep. Steve Schmidt, R-Wolfeboro, said.

[continues 402 words]

Legislation to legalize marijuana in New Hampshire met a swift end yesterday, when the House voted to kill the bill without any debate.

The House, where Democrats hold a majority, voted, 239-112, to kill the bill.

The vote didn't fall along party lines. Some 135 Democrats and 104 Republicans voted to kill the bill, while 61 Democrats and 51 Republicans voted in support of it.

If it had become law, the legislation would have removed references to marijuana from the state's drug control laws as of Jan. 1.

[continues 212 words]

The "Live Free or Die" state soon could become the last in New England to approve letting ailing people use marijuana to relieve their suffering.

A New Hampshire House panel last week overwhelmingly, on a 14-1 vote, recommended passage for House Bill 573.

The speaker's office said the full House will consider the bill later this month.

"This bill is not going to turn this state into a bunch of pot heads," co-sponsor Rep. Debra DeSimone, R-Atkinson said Friday.

[continues 823 words]